NC city to build wireless network for police, fire

Officials say people surfing the web on smart phones has led to problems for police and fire departments

By PoliceOne Staff

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — City officials hope to finalize a contract within a week that will create a wireless network for first responders.

As more people surf the Internet on smart phones, police and fire compete for the same bandwidth, so city officials are working on a contract with Alcatel Lucent to build a 4G network, WFAE News reported. Since it will be exclusively for public safety, lines of communication will not risk jamming from civilian use.

"By creating a parallel system we're gonna be able to assure that our public safety folks will have ready access to each other," Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said.

A federal stimulus grant of nearly $17 million will finance most of the cost, and City Council is scheduled to approve the contract on September 26th.